Sideshow Collectibles has gone all-in on their X-Men Premium Format Figure series of 1:4 statues, attacking collectors’ wallets with more fervor and enthusiasm than I can ever remember from them. It seems like every other week we’re seeing another statue revealed and put up for sale, and the next piece in the rapid-fire parade is now on the hunt for our dollars: the Sideshow Exclusive Sabretooth Premium Format Figure is now up for order! Is this piece “EX or bust”?

Ordinarily, my initial reactions to a statue’s debut correlate reasonably closely to the overall opinions of the statue collecting community. In the case of this PF Sabretooth Statue… not so much.

At my first glance at this Sideshow Sabretooth last week, I recoiled with a lot of distaste, finding the Hulk-like 10-pack abs, exaggerated proportions and rock star hair to be, well… not for me, let’s say.

But I was taken aback when Sideshow fully revealed the piece this week and the general perception of this piece is that it’s, well… great. That made me spend a few days soul-searching and looking at Sabretooth comic book art from over the years, and now I can appreciate what the sculptors have done with this piece a little better… even if it’s still not for me.

If you’re looking for a hulking, powerful Sabretooth 1/4 Statue that looks ready to tear your Wolverine to shreds, this may be that statue. This is indisputably the most muscle-bound piece of Sabretooth merch that I’ve ever seen, and he certainly feels like a vicious beast to be reckoned with.

Price-wise, the new Sabretooth Sideshow Premium Format Figure falls at an expensive—but not totally outrageous—$610 for the regular version and $625 for the exclusive. It’s hard to believe prices have reached the point where $600+ for a statue seems acceptable, but after that $1400 Juggernaut Maquette, a chunky piece like this one for less than half the price looks a whole lot better.

While not everything about this 1/4 figure is to my taste, there’s no denying the incredible amount of sculpting detail and work that went into this piece. The close-up details are tremendous.

…And hey, who knew Victor Creed had buns of steel like that! That must be what Mystique saw in him!

Oddly enough, the base for this Sabretooth figure isn’t Danger Room-themed at all—it’s a snowy, mountain-like terrain base. This thematically fits with the recent Jim Lee Jim Grey PFF, but doesn’t gel with the latest Wolverine or Logan 1:4 pieces at all. It certainly lends credence to the rumor that Sideshow is developing a repaint of that Astonishing X-Men Wolverine costume with a snowy base. Hmm.

The longer-haired look for Victor Creed has never been my preference, so I wasn’t wild about the default head Sideshow picked for him (at all). Thankfully for us 90s fans, there’s a snarling, short-haired Sabretooth portrait included as the extra accessory with the Sideshow Exclusive Version.

Without the classic Sabretooth EX head, this would be a 100% hard pass for me. With the head… well, this still isn’t at the top of my list, but it at least has a fair chance of being picked up. This is truly an “EX or bust” figure for me, and I imagine many other 90s fans are in the same boat.

The Sideshow Exclusive Sabretooth Premium Format Statue is now up for order, and is scheduled to be released in early 2020. With recent Sideshow X-Men Exclusives having edition sizes as low as 400, it’ll be interesting to see where Sabes ends up falling on the sales spectrum. I don’t think this will be an early sell-out, but I would have said the same about that EX Mystique that was Wait Listed before it ever started shipping, so who knows?

What do you think of Sideshow’s latest interpretation of Wolverine’s arch-nemesis, Marvel collectors? Is this an upgrade from past Sabretooth PF statues, and can you see this as a piece you’d want in your own collection?